"How I Manage Across Cultures and Companies" by Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO, Renault-Nissan Alliance
I recently sat down with Daniel Roth of LinkedIn to talk about how I manage two global automakers, Renault and Nissan, while overseeing a global alliance organization, multiple partnerships and collaborations with other automakers. We also talked about how you encourage debate within an organization. It was an interesting discussion. Both the video and some printed excerpts are below.

Let me know what you think.On managing so many people and companies:

"It requires a lot of pragmatism, a lot of organization. You have to be surrounded by very professional people who are going to help you do the job. You need to make sure you are limiting yourself to the core of your mission. I mean, you cannot do everything. You need to make sure about where you are, where you think you are indispensable, and dedicate your task to that.

"And then you start to allocate time in the most rational way possible between the different companies. Obviously, I start with the principle that when I'm in Japan, I'm making decisions for Nissan. When I'm in Paris, I'm making decisions for Renault. And when I am in Russia, I'm making decisions for AVTOVAZ.

"I don't mix the different responsibilities because I just want to make sure the different teams in charge feel responsible and there is no confusion between the different companies. So, a lot of pragmatism, some basic rules, professional people around you and at the end of the day, it's possible."

How to manage international teams:

"One basic rule is to give as much visibility as possible. For example, my agenda now is clear up to the end of 2015. That means I know exactly where I'm going to be and what I'm going to be doing for the next 15 months. It's not only for me, it's mainly for the people working for me. They know when I'm gonna be in Tokyo, when I'm gonna be in Paris, when I'm gonna be New York, so they can organize themselves around this.

"This being said, we're in a business, so you need to be flexible. There are exceptions and people around you are here to make sure that they're dealing with exceptions."